Shallow Waters
by Rheassa
Summary: It took Marco several days to make sense of the whole situation. He just couldn't wrap his head around the fact that he (1st division commander of Whitebeard pirates Marco the Phoenix!) had a thing for fishes. Well, not really fishes, more like incredibly hot mermen, but that's beside the point. MermaidAU, Marco x Ace, rated M for a reason. One shot. Picture not mine.


**Um, yeah... That's what I've been doing... I wrote this kind of like an exercise for Seven Days. With this one shot out of the way I'll return to writing Seven Days asap. **

**I listened to a lot of music while I wrote this, but there were some song that stood out:**

**Cecilé Corbel - Sho's Song & Arietty's Song - I just loved those and they are almost an official soundtrack of this one shot :D**  
**Patrik Isacsson - Hos Dig Är Jag Underbar **  
**Within Temptation - Hydra album - I love this band and I listen to them a lot when I write.**

**Beta'ed by aqua-empress, I can't believe she's still happy to work with me XD Many thanks to her. **

**Disclaimer: Oda is the man, I'm just using his characters to create perverted fantasies XD**

* * *

According to the legends, mermaids were sirens who enchanted sailors with their beauty and dragged them underwater, drowning poor bastards who fell to temptation. Those who lived to tell the tale of meeting a mermaid were so drunk that they wouldn't know a mermaid if it came to them and slapped them in the face. Despite the depressing facts, vast majority of the sailors, pirates and marines alike, believed that mermaids were real.

Marco was no different from the majority. He believed in mermaids and the Sea Emperor, who commanded the oceans. Depending on his mood, he sent the sailors good wind, calm or storm. It was the first thing one learned aboard any ship sailing under the Whitebeard's colours – respect the sea. Second thing was protect your family. It was imbedded so deeply, that whenever there was a celebration, the first drink was always to the sea and freedom, the second one was for the family and the third one was for whatever reason they celebrated.

This time, however, Marco was not in mood to celebrate. He drank to the sea, the family and the reason and then took his bottle and went below deck. He went all the way to the small room beneath captain's quarters, which was used when somebody wanted some peace and quiet. There was a small balcony there and that was Marco's destination. He leaned on the railing and sighed – he was getting too old for this shit. Recently there were way too many parties and he felt like an old neighbour from upstairs, who grumbled about kids in the good old days, who were polite and didn't play their music after six in the evening.

"Hey!"

The blond was brought back from his depressing thoughts by a voice calling out. He looked behind him, but there was no one there, so Marco thought it came from the celebration on deck. He shook his head with a smile and took a mouthful of rom from the bottle.

"Hey! Down here!"

Marco choked on his drink, when he looked down. There, in dark ocean waters, was a young man with raven hair. It was about the only thing the pirate got to see, before he suffered from a horrible coughing fit.

"Are you alright?" the merman asked, concerned, when Marco leaned on the railing again, exhausted from all the coughing.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" the blond managed to get out, before he took another sip, this time to calm his nerves.

Well, he certainly lived a long and eventful life, it was about time he was brought down to the earth and, well, died. In every single story about mermaids Marco ever heard, not one sailor was able to resist them. All who ever met one disappeared in the dark waters of the ocean. The blond was known for enormous self-control, but he was a realist and, honestly, he didn't think he'd be able to resist a mermaid. After all, mermaids were known for being very persuasive.

"Why aren't you at the party?" the merman asked; Marco was surprised, he didn't know that before drowning their victims, mermaids chatted with them.

"Didn't feel like it."

"What's the occasion?"

"Dunno, didn't bother to ask," Marco took another sip. If he was going to die anytime soon, he might as well finish his drink.

"Wanna come down here for a swim?" the merman asked; the blond chuckled – he was as subtle as a slap to the face.

"No," Marco looked down at the merman, still chuckling. If this were a mermaid's powers of persuasion, he might actually stand a chance.

"You sure?"

"Absolutely."

"Alright," the merman smiled at Marco and disappeared in the water.

The pirate only saw a bit of a dark tail, as the merman left, leaving him completely baffled. Mermaids never left their targets, they stayed until he or she willingly jumped into the water to join them. Maybe this was a weird merman, who didn't know how to ensnare his prey or didn't have the power of conviction yet. That would explain why he left, although it didn't explain why he did so with a smile. Maybe this merman was retarded. 'Just great, I only met one merman in my entire life and he wasn't even interested in me… Cheers to being an old man,' Marco thought, as he drank from the bottle, but he didn't get to swallow it, because he choked again, when the merman shot out of water with a speed of a cannon ball and hit the railing.

When Marco regained control over his breathing, the merman was already sitting on the railing, facing the ship. It was a young merman, much younger than Marco for sure. His black hair was parted in the middle, framing a beautifully sculpted face. His nose and cheeks were covered in freckles, creating an innocent look, but the grey eyes said different. They looked at Marco with mischief and a smile, which was also present on soft lips. His slightly tanned skin glowed in the light coming from the ship. The matte black scales of the tail started right beneath the navel and turned blood red in the end of the tail, making Marco think about embers left after a fire. Above the tail was perfectly sculpted torso, completely bare and open for everyone to see. The only things the merman wore was a necklace made of big red beads, a red and white striped bracelet on his left wrist and an orange elbow guard on his left elbow.

"I'm Ace," the merman stretched his right arm to Marco.

"Marco," the pirate answered, hesitantly shaking the offered hand.

"May I?" Ace pointed to the bottle in Marco's hand.

"Go ahead," the blond gave away the bottle without any qualm – he was afraid that if he took another sip, he'd start coughing again, so he could give it to the merman just as well. Plus he was surprised by the fact that mermaids apparently stole drinks from their prey too.

"Thanks," the merman brought the bottle to his lips and took a mouthful. The only reaction to the strong drink was a quick wrinkling of the merman's nose, who swallowed the drink anyway. "How do you people drink this stuff?" he asked, putting the bottle on the railing.

"We don't, we just use it to catch young mermaids," Marco answered with a smile.

"How many did you catch so far?" Ace pushed the bottle to the blond, who took it and drank a bit too.

"You're the first one."

"Hm, you caught me, what are you planning to do with a poor defenceless merman?"

"Get you drunk and make you dance Macarena," Marco chuckled, taking another mouthful.

The merman laughed loudly, throwing his head back.

"I think it'll be a bit hard outside the water," he stretched his hand for the bottle and Marco gave it to the merman.

"You're not even going to try?"

"Depends on how drunk I will get," Ace answered, his tone serious, but his eyes sparkled with contained laughter.

"Aren't you supposed to, I don't know, try to persuade me to go for a swim with you? And then, I don't know, drown me?" Marco didn't know what made him say that, it just came out of his mouth without any thinking.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," the merman smiled widely at the blond. It was one of those smiles one would get when both parties knew the truth, but one still denied it without any real effort.

"Because if that's the case, you're not very persuasive," Marco took the bottle from the merman.

"You want me to be persuasive?" Ace smiled wickedly at the pirate.

"Can you?" that was final – Marco was definitely drunk, why else would he ask a merman to drag him underwater?

"Oh, I can be very persuasive," the merman said and suddenly changed. He didn't look any different appearance-wise, but Marco found that he could not look away. It was as if a spell was cast over him, he had no longer control over his own body. The blond could see himself put the bottle on the floor and move to stand in front of the merman, but he could do nothing about it. Ace looked absolutely dazzling in front of him, as he opened his mouth and spoke. Marco didn't understand a word, the voice sounded like a divine song, too beautiful to think about meaning, but he sure as hell felt it when a flame of desire engulfed his body. Marco never felt anything like that before, he felt like he would turn to ashes unless he got to touch the dazzling creature in front of him.

The creature moved its hand and caressed Marco's cheek gently, who leaned into the touch, desperate for any kind of contact but unable to touch the creature himself. The creature moved Marco's face closer to its own, so that there were only millimetres between their lips. He wanted to close the distance between them so much his whole body ached, but he couldn't do anything without the creature's permission. The blond looked into the creature's eyes, silently begging for anything, a caress, a kiss, anything… The creature cupped his face in its hands and pushed it away a little bit.

The creature held Marco's face in its hands as it looked behind him. It smiled at him and gently pressed its lips on his forehead. Next second the spell was broken and the merman fell backwards into the ocean, leaving Marco completely drained.

He fell to his knees, panting heavily.

"Fuck… damn it…" Marco muttered, trying to catch his breath. "I just had to open my stupid mouth…"

"Are you alright, man?" somebody asked from behind.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" the blond breathed, getting to his feet, passing a drunk Thatch and walking to his room, using the wall for support. A sober Thatch would have noticed his state, but a drunk Thatch didn't see anything wrong with him and didn't ask any questions.

After what seemed like forever Marco made it to his room, locked the door behind him and fell on his bed. He turned around to lay on his back and put his right arm on his face, covering his eyes.

"Damn it…" the blond cursed under his breath. He wasn't fine. Not in the slightest. The biggest argument for that was restrained by his pants and pulsed painfully. Damned be his big mouth and that stupid drink…

To top everything off, he was never so confused in his entire life. The merman clearly had enough time to take Marco with him, drunk Thatch or not, but he didn't. He left Marco on the ship, although the blond would have surely jumped after the merman himself, if left in that state. But no, the merman broke the spell and left without the pirate. At least now Marco knew a couple of things, the first being don't ever tease a mermaid about its powers, and the second was that now he knew why didn't any of those taken by mermaids resist. As if anyone could resist that…

* * *

Next morning Marco came to a conclusion – whatever the merman did to him in the evening was only to illustrate a point, namely the fact that he could be persuasive if he wanted to. He couldn't have been clearer – Marco got the point perfectly and if he ever saw another mermaid he would never doubt their abilities. He was still a bit shaky when he came to breakfast, but nobody noticed anything, because everyone was busy nursing their hangovers. If Marco wasn't nursing a headache himself (he blamed everything on the merman, since he didn't drink that much last evening), he would have laughed at the complete silence of the dining room.

After the breakfast the blond went back to the balcony for a reason he didn't quite understand himself. What did he expect to find there? The merman waiting for him? Any traces proving that the merman was real? Marco wasn't sure.

The merman wasn't waiting for him and there weren't any traces, besides the half-empty bottle on the floor, where Marco put it when he was under the spell. He took the bottle in his hands and leaned on the railing. Marco sighed, studying the bottle. It was a usual bottle, made of green glass, still it was a proof that he didn't imagine anything.

"Hey!"

Marco dropped the bottle, taken completely off guard. It couldn't be…

"Ouch! Fuck that hurt…"

The blond stared into the sea with round eyes and, true enough, there was the merman from last night, rubbing his head furiously and frowning at a very familiar bottle. The one that Marco held in his hands a second ago.

"I get that you may be angry because of what I did yesterday, but that's not reason enough to throw bottles at me," the merman glared up at Marco.

"Sorry…" the blond managed to say, still in shock.

"Is the coast clear?"

Marco automatically looked behind him, but there was nobody there – after the breakfast everybody crept back to their rooms and he was dead sure that nobody would show up until lunch.

"Yeah, why?" when the pirate looked down, the merman already disappeared. Marco sighed and yawned, covering his mouth with his hand – he had no idea on how that brain worked. He froze in mid-yawn as the merman shot out of the water and grabbed the railing. Marco watched, stunned, as the merman climbed up and sit on the railing.

"That's why," the merman answered with a smile and Marco finally remembered his name. "Here's your bottle, just don't throw it at me again."

The blond nodded, accepting the bottle. Suddenly he realized something.

"Why are you here?" he asked, suspicious.

"I figured you'd have a headache in the morning, so I brought some medicine. It's made specifically for this, so…" Ace stretched his hand with a small bag he took off from around his neck. Marco took it hesitantly and opened the bag. Inside were several blue pills made from gods know what.

"Er… Thanks?"

"Don't worry, it's completely harmless for humans, it's just medicine for the head," Ace assured.

"Like what, to brainwash me?" the blond was sceptical.

"No, if I wanted to do that, it'd be much easier for me to just enchant you and force you to forget," the merman laughed.

"Aha… Note to self, don't ever let a mermaid enchant you ever again," Marco muttered.

"You really think that I need your permission to enchant you?" Ace looked at the blond with amusement.

Marco didn't answer that, he looked at the small bag in his hand. On one hand he did have a headache, on the other, should he really trust the merman? Figuring that things couldn't get much worse, he took one pill and put it into his mouth. The pill tasted weird, like seaweed or something like that, so the pirate just swallowed it quickly. Given that the mermen didn't look like he was in a hurry and was going to go anytime soon, Marco went inside and dragged a chair from the relaxing room for him to sit on.

"Why are you here?" he asked again, once he was seated comfortably.

"Didn't I tell you that already?"

"You need to try a bit harder to convince me," Marco said, looking up at the merman, who was looking inside the ship, in case anybody showed up.

"Um, this is gonna sound crazy…" Ace put his elbows on his tail and set his chin on his hands.

"Try me," Marco looked at him seriously.

"Do you want to be my friend?"

"I'm sorry?" the pirate stared at him with round eyes. That was it – this merman was mental, Marco had no other explanation.

"Do you want to be my friend?" the merman repeated. When the only answer he got was Marco's dumbfounded expression, he pouted, "I don't get it!"

"What?" the blond thought about how he could possibly escape without creating much ruckus, because Ace was definitely mental.

"I don't get it!" Ace repeated, pouting. "When Luffy did this, it worked perfectly fine! All I get it a stupid look, which clearly doubts my mental health!"

"Who's Luffy?" Marco asked, because he didn't know what to say to that statement.

"My brother…" the merman looked at him with sad puppy eyes. "I saw him do this with my own eyes and it worked, so I decided to give it a try, but all I get is completely shocked look… I could practically hear you calling me a retard in your mind…"

"Sorry?" Marco offered, now amused.

"So, how about it? You wanna be my friend?" Ace still looked at Marco with sad puppy eyes.

"Yeah, sure…" the pirate didn't want to admit it, but those puppy eyes worked on him – he couldn't even think about refusing them.

"Awesome!" the puppy eyes disappeared instantly, replaced by a big smile. "So this method does work!"

"I wouldn't try it on other people," Marco chuckled, shaking his head.

"Why?" the merman looked confused. "It worked, didn't it?"

"Yeah, but a lot of people who are not me will shoot you in the face before you ask them," Marco wasn't lying, the majority of the sailors were afraid of mermaids and would shoot them before they could put their spell on them.

"Why didn't you?" Ace looked at Marco, curious.

"Didn't have my gun with me," the pirate joked – he didn't need it, his devil fruit powers were enough for him to defend himself.

"So you would have shot me if you had it with you?" the merman took the joke seriously and now looked at Marco with wide eyes.

"Why would I? I had my bottle with me," Marco pointed to the said bottle on the railing with a smile.

"Ah, right, you use it to catch mer-folk…" Ace looked completely serious and Marco couldn't restrain himself – he laughed loudly, bending over and holding his sides. "Wait, you were joking?" the merman looked scandalised.

"Ha-ha-ha… Not about people shooting you, I was serious about that…" the pirate managed to say through laughter.

"So you can't actually catch mer-folk with this?" Ace gestured to the bottle with wide eyes.

"No…" Marco wiped the tears away, still trying to contain his laughter.

"What is that disgusting drink for? And wait, you weren't going to make me dance Macarena?"

"Don't sound so disappointed by that," Marco chuckled. "So, if I understand it correctly, you willingly drank something you thought was used to capture you? And you claim that you're not stupid?"

"I was curious…" the merman was an image of innocence."So what is that drink for?"

"To get drunk, what else?"

"You use that to get drunk?"

"What do you use then?"

"There's this kind of sea-weed, if you eat it, you get drunk. I thought you were going to feed it to me…"

"You are stupid, aren't you?"

The merman looked offended at that, but didn't deny it. Marco just rolled his eyes at this level of stupidity. Who would willingly drink something used for capturing your kind and then expect to get drunk and be forced to dance? " Only idiots" was Marco's only answer.

* * *

At first being Ace's friend was challenging and confusing. The first thing they butted their heads on was the way they were supposed to meet. Frankly, Marco was ashamed for thinking that whenever he would go out on that balcony, Ace would be there. It took them a couple of weeks to get it working and now they had a working schedule. They decided that meetings during the evening would work well for both of them, so they ended up meeting three to five times a week.

The second thing was the giant cultural difference. At first it was as if they spoke two different languages and had to explain, if not every second, than every third word. Still, after a couple of weeks they only had to explain things when it was something uncommon, so Marco could say that they did become friends. He also got a completely unique experience of getting to know more about the culture of the mer-people.

By now he knew that the Sea Emperor was real, although they called him a king and that he indeed could control the weather, but did so very rarely. He also found out that the spell the mermaids used was only a protective mechanism, it didn't work on other mermaids or other species besides humans. Mer-people had no interest in humans as type of food, but there were classes on humans they had to go to at school. When Marco asked what Ace was doing, he told about his training to join the army. The reason was very simple – it was the only way he'd get to fight a lot without getting into trouble with law enforcement.

Another thing Marco found out pretty quickly was that Ace was a glutton. He ate everything and anything and when Marco asked if he had any problems with eating fish, the merman just waved it off, stealing Marco's share in the process. When Marco tried to take his share back, he got the sad puppy look, so he let it be. Apparently, he should have done something then, because Marco never got to eat anything around Ace – it got stolen immediately and all he got in return was a look of pure innocence from the merman.

"You know what?" Marco said, looking at Ace, who munched on Marco's share.

"Mph?" Ace blinked innocently.

"I think you just come here to get food."

"How can you say something like that?" the merman sounded shocked to the core, but Marco knew better – to shock that individual he'd probably have to put laxative into the food and tell it to him while he ate. "I want something to drink too."

"Glutton," Marco rolled his eyes.

"So?"

"Can't you eat at home?"

"Your food tastes better."

"Like I said – you come here only because there you get food here."

"How can you say something like this?"

And the argument continued in circles. Marco had to admit that he liked to argue with Ace. What more – the merman made him feel younger and could easily make him laugh. Mostly it was because of something Ace or his brother Luffy did. Marco could clearly see why those two were related – such level of stupidity could only be genetic. Most of the stupid stuff Marco heard about happened when they were kids, but it didn't look like they got smarter as they got older. Only recently Luffy picked a fight with a kraken and had to run for several kilometres before it got tired and stopped chasing the stupid merman. Ace's showing up on the ship could also count as peak of stupidity - something Marco found pleasure in teasing Ace with.

The merman also got to know things about Marco. For example why it wouldn't be such a good idea for him to go for a swim. Marco also told Ace about Pops and his brothers, the ship and even some of the places he's been to. It turned out that Ace loved hearing about their adventures and everything that had something to do with being a pirate. He asked Marco several times to introduce him to Marco's brothers, but Marco cut him off directly. A bunch of superstitious, armed pirates were not a group that could be introduced to a merman.

* * *

After a while Marco noticed that he spent his days looking forward to a rendezvous with the merman. He wouldn't have been aware of it if Thatch didn't come up to him and bluntly asked what the hell was wrong with him. When Marco asked what Thatch meant by that, he got a list, after which Thatch asked if Marco was on drugs. While Marco stared at his fellow commander with his mouth agape, came Izo and completely dismissed Thatch's theory by stating that Marco was in love. The only question Izo wanted an answer to was 'who'. Marco just sat there, his mind blank, as his brothers discussed every absurd possibility that came to their minds. Their suggestions were absurd because they thought that Marco fell in love with a girl. There was nothing feminine about… At that Marco shook his head violently. There was no frigging way that he was…

Marco rose abruptly and stormed away to that room, feeling that he needed some air. It wasn't happening, he wasn't… Once outside, he took a deep breath, calming himself. There was no way he was actually thinking about it being a possibility, he was too old for… not to mention the fact that… Damn it! He was even afraid of thinking about it, because if he mentioned it in even in his mind, he would make it final. Irreversible…

"You came earlier than usual! Did you miss me?"

Marco looked down on Ace's smiling face and realisation washed over him like a tidal wave. It was irreversible ever since he made the merman to put the spell on him. He just didn't want to admit it and hid behind whole friendship thing. He watched absently as Ace climbed up and sat on the railing, facing him.

"Normally I have to wait for you, but this time you came earlier than me," the merman continued. "What happened? No reports to fill in?"

"Something like that," Marco said tiredly, closing his eyes.

"Hm…" Ace hummed, settling on the railing. It became a habit of his – to lay down on the railing on his stomach and put his head on his hands.

Marco looked at the merman, who was looking up at him – a perfect image of innocence and complete trust. He chuckled, shaking his head. Ace was too trusting for his own good.

"What?" Ace lifted his head, looking into Marco's face.

"You are too naïve," Marco said, propping his elbows on the railing.

"What do you mean?"

"This," Marco pushed the merman slightly on his shoulder.

Ace flailed, trying to restore the lost balance, but failed and could only grab the railing, before his whole body fell over.

"You jerk!" the merman growled, climbing back up and lying down again.

"This is what I mean – you lied down without thinking that I might do this again," Marco pushed Ace lightly and watched, as the merman desperately tried to keep his balance. Chuckling, Marco took a step back and settled in his chair, watching as Ace climbed up.

"What is wrong with you?" the merman glared at the pirate, but still lied down.

Marco didn't answer, watching Ace silently. Oh yes, there was a lot to fall in love with. Those eyes, freckles, lips, body… That was evident the first time he met the merman. What he didn't know back then was the fiery temper, sharp tongue and endless curiosity and, if anything, it made Ace even more endearing. Now, lying there calmly, with his cheek on the railing and his palms under his forehead, and studying Marco with those stormy eyes, Ace looked serene and enticing.

"Say…" Marco started, not sure if he wanted to finish the sentence.

"Hm?" the mermen looked at him with curiosity.

"Is it possible… for you to put a spell on someone, but without you being aware of it?"

"Do you mean if I could put a spell on someone unconsciously?" Ace asked with a slight frown.

"Something along those lines, yes," the pirate leaned back in his chair.

"Well, it could happen if somebody scared me shitless…" the merman said thoughtfully. "And by scaring I meant catching me completely off guard. It's like a reflex. For example I won't be able to put a spell on you just by sitting here and talking to you. Either I need to put a spell on you consciously or you need to catch me completely off guard."

Marco nodded, showing that he understood. After a moment of thinking, he asked another question.

"What will happen if you put a spell on someone but not control their actions?"

"I have no idea," the merman answered honestly. "Do you want to try and see?"

The pirate thought about it for a moment. Still, he wanted to know if he would feel any different than he did now. He also trusted Ace enough to not to make him do anything he really didn't want to do. Thus, after a moment of consideration, Marco nodded, allowing the merman to cast the spell.

Ace sat up and moved to sit right in front of Marco, who followed him with his gaze.

"Are you ready?" the merman asked and, when the pirate nodded, added "Remember, I know as much as you about this."

Marco nodded again, his eyes watching the merman's every move.

"Alright, here I go," Ace exhaled and immediately Marco felt the familiar flame engulf his body. The pull was strong, it took every bit of his self-restraint to keep himself in the chair and not move closer to the mesmerizing creature in front of him. Still, Marco found that he could resist it as long as Ace didn't make him do anything.

Apparently, the merman decided that Marco's been sitting and staring at him for too long, so he made an inviting gesture and the pirate could see the difference immediately. He couldn't resist at all as he saw his body stand up and move closer to Ace.

"How is it?" this time Marco could barely understand what was said, unlike last time.

"Weird," he mumbled, regaining control of his body but still under the spell. Marco closed his eyes, forcing himself to be still and not touch the dazzling creature in front of him.

"How so?" Ace murmured, moving slightly closer.

"I don't know…" every conscious thought went towards trying to keep his hands to himself, so Marco said the first thing that came to his mind. "I don't know…"

"Does this feel weird too?" Ace raised his hand and gently stroked Marco's cheek.

"No…" a simple touch was all it took to crumble whatever restraint Marco had left. His own hands rose to touch the beautiful face so close to his own. Marco opened his eyes and was met by stunning stormy eyes that seemed to look into his very soul. There was just a subtle change of air and he knew that Ace removed the spell, but he stayed where he was, their eyes still connected.

"Do you realise that you can walk away now?" the merman whispered, his hand softly caressing the pirate's jaw now.

"Yes," Marco whispered back, breaking the eye-contact and finally kissing those alluring lips.

At first the touch was tentative, neither was sure that this was actually happening. Then Marco licked Ace's lips lightly and all hell seemed to break loose. Ace gasped, giving Marco the opportunity to invade his hot mouth with his tongue. They fought for dominance, sucking, biting and abusing each other's mouths in every way possible. The pirate thought that at one point he actually heard Ace growl, but he was so consumed by the kiss he didn't pay any attention to his surroundings. For all he knew it could have been himself growling as he pulled on Ace's hair to get better access to his mouth.

"Marco! Where the hell are you?!"

The pirate pulled away, his brother's voice working better than a bucket of cold water. He didn't want even to start thinking what would happen if Izo saw Ace. Superstitions or not, Izo would have pulled the trigger before Marco had a chance to open his mouth and try to explain anything.

Ace seemed to catch Marco's worry, because he softly pressed his lips to Marco's. Compared to the previous kiss this one was surprisingly chaste and tender.

"See you later," Ace murmured against Marco's lips and fell back into the ocean, disappearing in dark waters.

* * *

It took Marco several days to make sense of the whole situation. He just couldn't wrap his head around the fact that he (1st division commander of Whitebeard pirates Marco the Phoenix!) had a thing for fishes. Well, not really fishes, more like incredibly hot mermen, but that's beside the point. If somebody told him that two months ago, that person would have been lit on fire for very unfunny jokes. Not that this stopped Marco in any way, but he just couldn't help but wonder what will happen later. Half of him was sure that there won't be any 'later' because Ace will get tired of him before it will come to that. Marco fully realised that he was probably twice as old as the merman and sooner or later Ace will find someone his own age or, more importantly, his own kind.

Another part of Marco, probably thirty percent, was hoping that the merman would dump him before it will come to meeting his brothers. There was no way that a meeting like that would end well. Somebody was going to get hurt and Marco didn't even know who, because he knew that Ace was as strong a fighter as any of his brothers. So, with all of that in mind, if they happened to survive all of the above, a miniature part of Marco, probably around five percent (more like ninety, if he was to be honest) actually pondered the question 'how?', because his imagination gave up on trying to figure that out. He didn't dare to ask Ace because, maybe, the merman didn't plan on anything and half of Marco turned out to be correct in its pessimistic assumptions.

These thoughts circled in his mind most of the time and a completely deserted beach wasn't an exception. The Whitebeard pirates stopped on this island to restock and it took a week for the log pose to settle, so they took a little vacation. This was a summer island and some of the pirates spent time on the common beach, while most of them spent their vacation drinking their own weight in sake and partying all night long. The beach that Marco found was secluded and one couldn't come there from the land, only by air or from the ocean, which suited him perfectly.

"Come on, Marco…" Ace whined for the nth time in a row, lying in shallow waters on his stomach and using his own tailfin as a fan.

"I told you what would happen if I'd go for a swim," Marco answered for nth time in a row, sitting on a rock safely away from the ocean.

"We won't go far, please," Ace crawled a little closer. "Don't you trust me?"

Marco sighed – he didn't have anything to say to that. He trusted Ace and it was kind of unfair to the merman that they always met on Marco's turf so to speak. Finally realising that this was a lost battle, he started to strip off his clothes.

"Awesome!" Ace exclaimed, hastily moving back into the waters where he could swim.

After some consideration, Marco decided to keep his boxers on to preserve last bit of decency between them. He carefully stepped into the water, thinking that if somebody told him that he'd voluntarily walk into the ocean, he would have, again, roasted the person for very unfunny jokes, but here he was, a devil-fruit user willingly going into the waters. If this wasn't suicidal, he didn't know what was.

Ace waited for him where the water reached Marco's waist. He jumped out of the water and locked his arms behind the pirate's neck, almost tackling him in the process. Not that the blond minded, he was too busy kissing Ace to care.

"Somebody's enthusiastic," the pirate teased once they broke up the kiss for air.

"You bet I am!" Ace laughed, attacking Marco's lips again.

Marco captured Ace's face with both hands and kissed him ardently as if trying to convey a message. A message that would have consisted of only three words he was afraid to say. After being alone for so long Ace felt like a breath of fresh air. He was everything that Marco wasn't – he wore his heart on his sleeve and was not afraid of it, unlike Marco, who preferred to hide behind his mask of boredom. He suspected that this openness was what drew him in and he allowed himself to go with it, despite knowing all the reasons why he shouldn't.

Now, having Ace in his arms, Marco realised that he won't be able to let Ace go. Not now, not even in ten years. He knew himself far too well to try and deceive himself by saying that when the mermen will have had enough of him, he will let him go.

"Marco… You know what?" Ace breathed between kisses.

"What?" the pirate murmured bringing the merman even closer.

"You are way too naïve," Ace laughed and next moment Marco was falling back into the water with laughing merman on top of him.

The blond wasn't afraid in the slightest. He was just mad at himself for lowering his guard and allowing Ace to trick him. The moment they surfaced, Marco jumped at the merman, pushing him back under the water. That brought even more laughter from Ace.

"You know, you can't drown a merman," Ace said cheerfully once he was allowed to resurface again.

"Let a man hope, will you?" the pirate said in mock anger. The answer to that was loud carefree laughter as the merman got just out of Marco's reach.

In the end the blond had no idea how Ace managed to make him play 'catch a merman in an ocean'. It perfectly showed Marco that the proverb was right – it was impossible to do for anyone who didn't have a familiar merman who didn't mind getting caught.

When Marco finally walked out of the ocean, leaving Ace in shallow waters, he prayed to whatever gods there were that no one from his crew witnessed the whole thing. If they did, the only thing left for the blond to do would be shooting himself – the way he played with the merman in the water earned him a lifetime of teasing. Especially from Thatch. Marco shuddered – he didn't even want to start thinking about what Thatch would do.

He dressed to Ace's enthusiastic musings about the supper on the ship (the blond was very grateful for the fact that most of the crew spent their time on the island, he really didn't want to explain why he needed three helpings). Marco sighed in defeat – he would have to introduce Ace to his brothers sooner than he expected, because only yesterday Thatch voiced a concern about rats on the ship. The blond knew precisely where the food went, after all it was he who took it, but he had no idea as to how to explain it. Lost in pessimistic thoughts about stupid superstitions and thick-headed brothers, Marco only surfaced when Ace asked:

"Are they your friends?"

"What?" the blond jerked around, immediately feeling malicious intent behind him. He was too late though – suddenly his whole body seized up and he fell down, unconscious.

* * *

When Marco woke up he instantly wished he didn't. His whole body felt like it was made of lead and his head hurt like there were thousands of white-hot needles stuck in it. The blond barely stifled a moan as memories flooded back. If he was captured, he was better off if they thought he was still out. He had no idea how much time has passed, he just hoped it wasn't too long. More importantly, he had no idea what happened to Ace. Catching mermaids for sale was hopeless sine they compelled their captors to let them go. If Marco was captured, there were only few options for Ace. Most likely his captors tried to eliminate the unwanted witness, question was whether they succeeded or not.

The blond heard a door open as someone entered wherever he was. Then a very familiar voice asked:

"Any changes?"

"No. Just like five minutes ago. And five minutes before that. And before that. I told you a million times - when he wakes up, I will call for you," another familiar voice snapped at the one who entered.

"Nothing at all? It's been two days already," the first familiar voice pleaded.

"The drug was very strong, it's a miracle he's still alive and didn't die from overdose in the first half an hour. It was specifically designed for Devil Fruit users. There is no way that merman was in any way responsible for all this."

"You mean that I was wrong?" Marco finally placed that voice – Izo.

"Think about it for a moment. We didn't know where Marco went, but wherever he was, he was drugged and not with one of the poisons used by mermaids. If anything, this very poison proves the merman's innocence. For all we know, he could have saved Marco's life at the very least by getting him here quickly," the second voice clicked in as well – Jiru.

"You don't know that for sure," Izo sounded defensive.

"I don't, the only one who may or may not know something for sure has been out of it for the last two days."

So the first time he did hear them correctly. Marco sighed and opened his eyes. He closed them the next second – the light hurt like hell. The blond managed to move his left hand over his eyes to prevent any more light. The room was oddly quiet, then…

"Marco! How are you feeling?" Jiru asked, sounding relieved.

"Like shit…" Marco croaked, his throat incredibly dry.

"Can you tell us what happened?" Izo sounded agitated.

"Here's some water," Jiru pressed something cold to Marco's lips and he drank some gratefully. His head still hurt, but not as much. He cleared his throat, wincing at the sound, and said:

"Idiocy, that's what happened. I let my guard down and they ambushed me from behind."

"Where did this happen? We need to start investigating, Pops' got the whole island on lockdown," Izo asked seriously.

"Beach on south shore, have to either climb down or approach from the sea," Marco answered tiredly. When he got only silence in return, he asked: "What?"

"There was a huge explosion on the south shore two days ago, around four o'clock," Jiru spoke after some silence.

Marco frowned, trying to think despite headache. He didn't know what time he decided to call it a day, but he was sure that there weren't any explosions while he was there. At least not while he was conscious.

"I don't know," he finally said.

"That's fine, just get better - everyone's been worried sick. I'll go to the south shore and take a look," Izo walked out of the room, leaving Marco and Jiru alone.

The blond lay there, feeling terrible. The only thing worse than his overall condition was shame. He was the first division commander, for crying out loud! They shouldn't have been able to come within hundred meters of him without him noticing, yet if Ace didn't say anything, he wouldn't have known. If that wasn't embarrassing, Marco didn't know what was…

"Say, Marco…" Jiru started, uncertain. "You don't happen to know any mermen?"

It worked like a bucket of cold water on Marco – he swiftly sat up, staring at Jiru with wide eyes, ignoring dizziness and the light that still hurt his eyes.

"What happened to him? You know anything?"

"So he is your friend?"

"What happened?" Marco almost growled, dreading to be right in his assumptions.

"Unfortunately, Izo was the one to find you. I think you can guess the rest," Jiru answered, standing up.

"He's dead?" the blond became white as chalk, all colour immediately left his face. He didn't dare breathe until he heard an answer from Jiru.

"We don't know. Izo's a good shot, so he didn't miss, but there is no body because the merman jumped into the ocean. He may be alive, although I personally doubt it. I'm sorry for the loss of your friend, Marco," Jiru said and left the room.

Marco remained seated, unseeing eyes looking at the closed door. It couldn't be… This had to be a nightmare, he just needed to figure out how to wake up… If he could just wake up… He felt something wet on his right cheek and raised a shaking hand, touching the moisture. Marco looked at his fingers, the fingertips were wet with a clear liquid. Something wet slid down his left cheek and he lifted his left hand, touching the wetness. He stared at his shaking hands and then he just couldn't contain it anymore.

The blond fell backwards on the bed, heels of his hands pressing on his eyes as his whole body shook violently. It was all his fault! He just had to relax at the worst moment and now he'd never see Ace again! Stupid, stupid, stupid! He was such an idiot! Why didn't he instantly die from overdose? Why did he ever allow Ace to get on this ship in the first place? He should have chased him away while he could…

Marco bit his lower lip hard, to the point of drawing blood, in order to supress a pitiful sob. He was so dumb for thinking that gods were kind enough to let him have a nice long while with Ace… The gods loved cruel jokes and love was, by far, cruellest of them all… He was an idiot for hoping that a lifetime of piracy would be easily forgiven… If, by any miraculous chance, he was still alive, there was no way he'd ever come to see Marco… Why should he? Marco couldn't find even one reason why Ace would come to see him now…

After an hour, full of self-loathing and wanting to kill himself for being a giant idiot, the blond finally calmed down. He decided that Ace was alive, until proven otherwise. Marco knew that he was just deceiving himself, but he just couldn't admit it. All he wanted was to fall back to sleep and when he finally did fall asleep, he didn't dream, something he was thankful for.

When Marco woke up, he immediately knew that he was not alone in the room, which he recognised to be a room in the sickbay. The man in the room was quiet, but even with closed eyes Marco knew it was Pops.

"How are you feeling, son?" Whitebeard wasn't easily deceived, at least not with that big lack of effort.

"How do you think?" Marco mumbled into the pillow, eyes still closed.

"I think that you are physically fine," Whitebeard said.

"What a joy…" the blond said sarcastically.

"Compared to the alternative I think that it is something to be happy about."

Marco just rolled his eyes, knowing that even if they were closed, Pops would still know that he did it.

"I am sorry," Whitebeard said after a moment of silence. When even that got rolled eyes as an answer, he continued. "We went to the beach you mentioned. The whole place was charred and people, who I believe to be your attackers, seemed to have been burned alive."

That got Marco's eyes to open as he looked at Pops in disbelief.

"There's no way… I was taken completely off guard…" he said, shaking his head.

"I didn't say it was you."

"There was no one there beside me and…" Marco stared at the ceiling angrily. Yesterday's breakdown was enough, he didn't have to get all upset just by mentioning…

"You know, there is a very rare kind of mer-people. A one in ten millions. They are called fire mermen and if your friend happened to be one of them, he could have done that," Pops said, completely ignoring Marco's glare.

"If you want to know if I knew, then no, I had no idea," Marco growled. For a moment both were quiet, the blond studied the ceiling intently and the old pirate was doing the same to the blond. Finally, Whitebeard spoke:

"Listen to me, Marco. In this life I have lost more than you ever did. If there was one thing I've learnt over the years, it's that time will not heal you. Over time the pain will become dull, but it will always be there. I've seen many who chose to become completely numb, instead of accepting the pain. I don't want to see you do that to yourself."

Marco said nothing, he just looked at the ceiling until Pops sighed and left the room. He was afraid that Pops came in a little too late, because, unlike yesterday, the blond didn't feel anything – neither the tiredness of his body, nor the searing pain in his chest.

* * *

One month later Marco was far away from that island and almost the same as before that thing happened. There were only several changes that his crewmates became aware of very quickly. Reminding Marco of the incident and/or the island earned one a third-degree burn. If one was found in the relaxing room in the aft after eight in the evening, it earned one a second-degree burn. The only person who could safely enter the room at that time was Whitebeard.

Sometimes, depending on Marco's mood, Pops would sit there quietly and sometimes they would talk about different things, sometimes completely unrelated. Pops came at the very least three times a week and the blond was thankful for both company and the time spent alone.

Another change in Marco's behaviour was hyper-vigilance. It was on 24/7 and whatever happened within ten metres of him – he was well aware of that. The crew had hard time deciding whether it was a good or a bad thing.

The biggest change was that Marco found that he could not be anywhere near Izo. Unlike vigilance, it was in no way intentional. The blond didn't want his brother to feel any worse than he already did, but he just couldn't help it. After an entire month worth of Pops-therapy and a lot of hard work on himself Marco could have Izo in his line of sight and not have to put himself in timeout. Thatch, who was not as perceptive as Pops, tried to make the blond forgive Izo, but Marco just went and put himself in timeout, leaving Pops to explain things to Thatch. He had no idea what Pops told his brother, but he was never bothered with that again, so he was content with it.

Combining all of the above, the last thing Marco expected to happen was that Izo walked into the relaxing room at half past eight one evening. The blond was sitting in his chair on the balcony, pondering the never-ending topic of 'life sucks', so when he felt Izo approach the room, he thought he was wrong. When the door opened and the cross-dresser actually walked in, Marco looked at him with curiosity mixed with evident discontent and anger. He couldn't help the last part, when he saw his brother he just felt like making a nice, Izo-sized and shaped hole in the wall. Given that the blond was in the place where he went during his timeouts, he took a calming breath and looked at the ocean. There was only one thing Izo could talk about at this point. Marco told himself that he will listen to everything his brother had to say and stay calm no matter what.

"Marco?" Izo called and the blond found out that it will be hard to remain calm – he only heard the voice, but he already wanted to throw him overboard. Thus, he took another calming breath and answered, his anger caged for now.

"Yes?"

"Can I join you?"

"Are you tired of waiting for me to get over it?" Marco snapped unwillingly – apparently the cage that held his anger wasn't even closed.

"How was I supposed to know?" Izo exclaimed defensively, but that just fed Marco's anger – he got out of the chair and glared at his brother.

"You could have used your head for once!" the blond growled. First thing he did after getting out of the sick bay was forcing his brothers to tell him exactly what happened. Bit by bit, second by second.

"But I…"

"Don't push it!" Marco hit the balcony door with his fist, unable to restrain himself.

"Out of the way!" suddenly a third voice joined and the blond spun around in time to see two people getting on the balcony from the ocean.

The first one was a woman, younger than him, but not by very much. She had long dark hair and piercing ice-blue eyes. She sat elegantly on the railing, clad in black long-sleeved short dress, her legs crossed. Her cold gaze fixed on Marco, looking less than friendly. The second one was a man, dressed in black as well, although simpler than the woman – a t-shirt, pants and boots. He had odd green hair, three earrings in his left ear, a scar over his left eye and three distinctive swords. The man didn't sit down, he jumped down on the balcony, glaring Izo down. Something about him rang a bell, but Marco couldn't put his finger on it.

"Are you asleep?" the man asked, tilting his head slightly towards the ocean.

"Of course not!" answered a familiar voice angrily and the blond went cold. All colour drained from his face as he saw a very familiar mermen climb up.

Or was it even a merman? The torso was the same, but instead of a tail, there was a pair of legs. Instead of black scales there were black shorts, held by an orange belt, and black boots. The shirt, however, was absent as per usual. The merman (?) jumped down on the balcony and smiled at Marco that same brilliant smile.

"We will speak to your captain," said the woman, making the smile vanish faster than Marco ever saw it vanish.

"Can't you just go back and say you did it?" Ace asked sheepishly, biting his lower lip.

"No," the man said. "We will speak to the captain whether you like it or not. I, personally, have a word or two to say."

The woman moved to stand up, looking regal. She stepped forward and offered her hand to Marco, saying:

"My name is Nico Robin, I am here as a representative of the King."

Marco didn't see the offered hand, nor did he hear anything, for that matter. He stared at Ace, refusing to believe this was actually happening. It couldn't be… He had to be dreaming, for sure. Izo personally emptied both guns into Ace, he could not stand here right in front of Marco. Impossible…

"I'm sorry I couldn't tell you I was alive," Ace said when the silence was getting really awkward. "I hate to say it, but it was for the best – the recovery was slow and when I did recover, I had to deal with the consequences… I would have been locked up for the rest of my life and you could just as well think me dead. Would have been easier…" he didn't get to finish because Marco crushed him in a hug.

"At least you're alive…" the blond mumbled into Ace's shoulder.

"Yeah… There's that…" the merman chuckled lightly, hugging Marco back.

"I hate to interrupt, but you can hug all you want after I've spoken to the captain," the woman said, literally stepping between Marco and Ace.

"You really should let her do that," Ace said with a smile and Marco found himself grinning back. Unlike all the smiles of the last month, this one was genuine. He could not describe the relief, the happiness he felt when he got to hold Ace in his arms, even if it was for just a second.

"Right," he chuckled. "Follow me."

* * *

First thing that surprised everybody on the deck was Marco's grinning mug. The fact that he was on the deck when he usually spent his time alone wasn't even mentioned. Second thing was Izo, who looked shocked, afraid and relieved at the same time. And finally, there were three people who nobody has ever seen before, which raised the question of how the heck did they get on the ship. What was even more surprising was that they went directly to Whitebeard.

"They'd like to have a word with you, Pops," Marco said, without introduction.

"In private?" Whitebeard asked, eyes moving between the five in front of him.

"That won't be necessary," said Robin. "My name is Nico Robin and I'm here as a representative of the King."

"The king?" someone asked.

"I believe that you people call him 'the Sea Emperor'," Robin answered, her eyes on the old pirate in front of her; Marco moved and sat down on the armrest of Pops' armchair. "I am here about the incident from month ago."

"I am listening," Whitebeard said, making a sign for everyone to be quiet. He frowned at the fact that Izo stood beside them, but said nothing.

"The King and the high court have been convinced that this incident was fault of none other but Portgas D. Ace, present here," she pointed at the raven, who smiled widely at the old pirate. "According to him, he's been warned about the consequences of interaction with other members of the crew of this ship. However, I am here to warn you that if this ever happens again, every ship, sailing under your colours, have been marked. They will be sunk within an hour if the incident is to repeat itself. That is all. Any questions?"

"Yeah, why's the Pirate Hunter here?" Thatch walked over, standing on the other side of Pop's chair. Marco looked at the green-haired man in front of him with new eyes – there were rumours that those who angered the sea suffered a punishment from the Pirate Hunter. The man in front of him sunk more pirate and marine ships then anyone on this ship ever did.

"Long story short – he's my bodyguard," Ace sighed, rolling his eyes.

"What will happen to my son?" Whitebeard asked, turning his head to look at Izo.

"Nothing. As I stated before – the one responsible is Portgas D. Ace," Robin said calmly. "If you don't require my presence anymore, I'd like to report to the King that negotiations were successful?"

"Wait a sec, I just need to confirm one thing," Thatch raised his hand. "So, basically, you were here to inform us if we hurt him again, we'd have to pay a huge price? What happens if we disagree?"

"Nothing. You were informed. If you hurt him again, your ships will be sunk within an hour," Robin smiled sweetly. "And we will know if you hurt him."

"What if we hurt him?" Thatch pointed at the Pirate Hunter.

"I'd like to see you try," the man in question chuckled. "If you will try to kill me I will kill you."

"Point taken," Thatch muttered.

"If there are no more questions to me, I'll be leaving now," Robin looked at Whitebeard.

"I have no questions," the old pirate said, lowering his head.

"Have a nice evening," Robin bowed politely, went to the side of the ship and jumped into the waters. Marco could have sworn he saw a pair of legs turn into a sleek dark tail. Next moment all eyes were on Ace, but everybody was still quiet, waiting for Pops to speak first.

"Why did you take the blame for what my son did?" Whitebeard asked, studying Ace.

"'Cause it was my fault," Ace stared at the old man as if he was stupid.

"You'd have to elaborate a bit, because I don't get this either," Marco spoke for the first time since the 'introduction'.

"You told me I'd get shot in the face if I try to speak to anyone beside yourself," Ace said indignantly.

All eyes turned to Marco, more than half of them looked at him accusingly.

"Well… yeah, I kind of said that…" he admitted. "But how does it make the whole thing your fault?"

"Because I was stupid and tried to speak to him," Ace gestured at Izo.

The blond had to admit that there was logic in what the merman said, but it was a screwed up logic. After this was cleared, Pops wanted to know what exactly happened on that day and Marco was thankful that Ace didn't mention anything about what happened in the water. After he fell unconscious, the merman got pissed off. He was indeed a fire merman, which he demonstrated to the attackers by burning them alive. After that he tried to wake Marco up, but when it didn't work, he decided that his best shot was getting the pirate to the ship. Ace somehow managed to get him on the balcony and called for help. Help arrived, but he was a bit too late with remembering Marco's words, so he got shot.

When the merman was done, at first everyone thanked him for saving Marco's life and killing the bastards that tried to take it. Then everyone sincerely apologized to him and assured him that that won't ever happen again. After that came the only thing that one could expect – they threw a party. The blond was one of the first who took a drink. The reason for that was something that suddenly dawned on him – he saw the answer to the 'how'. Or, rather, the answer was in front of him the whole time, walking around the deck and introducing himself to all the crewmates. Key word was walking. Walking as in having legs to walk around on.

In attempt of getting his mind away from any thoughts about Ace, Marco focused on a drinking competition between Thatch and the Pirate Hunter, whose name was Zoro. At first he pitied Zoro because no one could drink Thatch under the table, but, as the competition dragged on, he changed his mind. Zoro might be the only one capable of doing that. He watched with amusement when Thatch finally gave up and went to the side to empty his stomach. The Pirate Hunter watched that with a smirk, sipping his drink casually.

The blond was surprised that he remembered Ace only when somebody hugged him from behind. Correction, there was only one person in the whole world who would ever do that.

"Hey," Marco said with a soft smile. "How's your evening going?"

"You found yourself entertainment," Ace muttered into his back.

"Well, I've never seen someone drink Thatch under the table, so I had to watch," the blond turned his head slightly.

"I missed you," the merman murmured, hugging Marco tighter.

"Missed you too," the blond turned around to embrace Ace properly.

He wasn't surprised when Ace pulled him closer and kissed him. Why would he be surprised if he was about to kiss the merman himself? As their lips moved against each other, Marco welcomed the familiar fire that consumed him every time he was close to Ace. That fire meant that Ace indeed was alive and in his arms. He didn't give a damn if anyone was watching, everyone was drunk anyway.

Marco tugged on Ace's hair forcing him to open his mouth. The raven did so with a soft moan that went straight to Marco's groin. As if that wasn't enough, Ace pressed into the blond, rubbing against his crotch. Marco pulled hard on the merman's hair, kissing him fervently. They had to move somewhere more secluded, because the blond's self-control was packing its things swiftly, ready to leave any second.

He broke the kiss and grabbed Ace's hand, dragging him to the door, which led towards the commanders' rooms. Once hidden by the door, Marco slammed the merman into the wall, earning a surprised gasp, which he immediately silenced by his own lips. There was no way that he'd stay away from Ace from now on. Attempting to get closer, the blond ground against Ace, eliciting a moan from both. Marco moved again, rubbing against the hardness constricted by black shorts. The raven groaned loudly, breaking the kiss for a second.

Ace immediately closed the distance, his hands leaving Marco's neck and moving down, exploring the wide chest. The blond had to get his hands away from the merman for a second, long enough for raven to pull his shirt down. Marco had no idea where it went, nor did he care, since Ace's hands returned to caressing his chest and stomach. The blond pressed his hips hard into the raven in vain attempt to get even closer. His lips moved to map out the neck offered to him freely. The only sane thought in his head was 'we need to move', but he didn't want to let Ace go even for a moment.

"Marco…" the raven moaned when he bit the offered neck. The moan made Marco's cock twitch in anticipation, so he got hold of Ace's hips and lifted him. The merman kissed him immediately, instinctively locking his legs around the blonde's waist.

Marco stepped away from the wall, the raven securely latched onto him. He tried to move for the much needed door, but Ace started rubbing their crotches together, moaning into his ear and Marco only moved to the other wall. The raven's back hit the wall and the blond bit hard on the neck, completely consumed by desire. The throbbing in his groin was getting painful, the pants needed to go – soon.

When they finally got to the door, Marco was missing his sash and where Ace's belt and boots went neither knew nor cared. The bed creaked when they fell on it, Marco on top. He immediately used that to his advantage and started ravishing the raven's body with his lips. The blond sucked hard on a stiff nipple, making Ace arch and moan loudly. The moan only encouraged him, so he made his way to the other nipple, sucking it at the same time as he pinched the other one with his fingers. The raven moaned even louder, grabbing Marco's hair with one hand. The blond chuckled lightly, moving lower.

As it turned out, the only thing that held those black shorts on narrow hips was lost somewhere between the deck and the room. To Marco's pleasant surprise there was nothing beneath them, except for a hard cock, which was already leaking. The blond was pulled back up, his lips crushed against Ace's. Marco felt a pair of hands yanking at his pants, so he broke the kiss in order to get rid of the rest of the clothes.

Both were panting heavily and the blond doubted that he'd be able to last long. He had to ask, while he was still capable of walking away.

"Ace… are you sure about this?" it wasn't the most original choice of words, but it was all he could put together at the moment.

"Why… why would you… think… I'm not?" the raven panted, his hands roaming Marco's body.

Marco didn't answer, mostly because he had better things to do with his mouth. He sucked on the mark on the neck, making it bigger, as he reached for the bedside drawer and searched for a small bottle he bought on that damned island before anything happened. He pushed back, opening the bottle and pouring some lube on his fingers. There was a flash of uncertainty in Ace's eyes, but it disappeared as soon as Marco kissed him, murmuring 'I will take care of you'.

The blond kissed down Ace's chest, stopping to tease sensitive nipples, making the raven pant harder and arch. He trailed down to Ace's hard cock and pressed his lips closely on the inside of the thigh. The hips jerked up, making the blond smile, before he pressed his lips on the tip. The raven moaned and Marco moved his fingers to the entrance, gently pressing one inside. He felt Ace tense, but he opened his mouth and took all of his cock into his mouth, sucking hard. Ace groaned, bucking his hips into the hot cavern around him.

Marco moved his finger inside Ace and sucked at the same time, making Ace thrust into his mouth. He had to hold the raven's hips down with his free arm. After some time he added the second finger, scissoring them to stretch the raven even more. By the time he added the third finger, Ace no longer knew which way to move, forward into the hot mouth or backwards to the fingers. Marco bent his fingers, trying to find Ace's sweet spot. When the raven arched in his hold and screamed, he knew he found it.

He pressed it a couple more times, each time making Ace scream. Marco removed his fingers, because he could no longer ignore his own cock, which was rock hard and pulsing painfully. The raven looked at him with half-lidded eyes, panting heavily. These eyes did him in – he slicked his cock with lube and aligned himself with Ace's entrance. Marco slowly pressed inside, groaning loudly at the heat and the tightness. Once he was fully seated, he had to take a moment to breathe or he would have come right there and then. He also kept in mind that Ace needed time to adjust, so he waited until Ace pulled him into a kiss.

He thrust inside and they both moaned, but it wasn't quite it. Marco changed his angle at each thrust until he found it. Ace screamed loudly, writhing on the sheets in abandon. Marco kept hitting the spot until he felt the heat coiling in his abdomen. The raven clawed at his back helplessly, moaning. They came at the same time, Ace screaming Marco's name and Marco growling as he bit Ace's neck. Falling asleep on top of the raven, the blond was kind of happy that everyone on the ship was drunk to sleep through this.

* * *

**PS.**

Dawn found Zoro doing push-ups on the deck of the pirate ship he spent the night on. Personally, he didn't think Ace needed a body-guard, but the council was adamant. He sighed and continued counting – 10032, 10033, 10034… The partying ended about an hour ago, but Zoro was wide awake, so he decided to train. 10039… Honestly, couldn't they fix the sound isolation on this ship?

The door leading to the commanders' rooms opened and Ace stumbled out, limping. Zoro stopped his training and sat down on the deck, his eyes studying his friend. He looked as if he spent the night in a nest of mutated mosquitoes – his whole torso was covered in red marks, but they were nothing compared to the giant thing on his neck.

"Morning," Zoro said, still staring at the neck. Were those teeth marks?

"Hey…" Ace said, his voice hoarse. Zoro chuckled - there wasn't a person on this ship who didn't hear him last night. "What are you grinning for?"

"Take this," Zoro took his shirt from the deck where he put it before starting doing push-ups.

"Is it really this bad?" Ace croaked, taking the offered article and putting it on.

"If you go through that door, third room to the right is a bathroom. There is a mirror in there," Zoro said with a smile, pointing to the door next to the one Ace came out of. His friend limped in the said direction, rubbing his neck.

In about fifteen minutes out came the blond. He looked suspiciously intact compared to Ace.

"Ace went to the bathroom, through there," Zoro didn't wait for the question.

"Thank you," the blond said, following Ace's footsteps.

Once he turned his back to the swordsman, Zoro roared with laughter. The blond's whole back was scratched up as if he spent the night with a crazy cat.

"What?" the blond turned around.

"Don't show up here without a shirt," the swordsman said with a smile.

"Is it really that bad?" the blond asked, concerned.

"Honestly? If I were you, I'd jump into the ocean until better times."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't wanna spoil anything, but the whole ship heard you and I doubt they've forgotten about it," Zoro laughed at the look of sheer horror on the blond's face. "Ace will be the first one to jump overboard once he learns about it."

* * *

**I am so sorry for making Izo a bad guy here, but someone had to be... **

**This is my first time writing anything this explicit, so yeah... please don't beat me up too bad ^_^**

**Reviews are always welcomed, so don't be afraid to leave a line after reading. **

**Hopefully I'll see you relatively soon :)**

**Rhe.**


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